Mumbai: The special court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has sentenced a 38-year-old man to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting the 11-year-old physically challenged daughter of his live-in partner when she was out for work in May 2019.

The complainant, mother of the victim, claimed that she started living with the accused just a few days prior to the alleged incident. As per her testimony, pneumonia affected her daughter’s leg when she was six months old. She also claimed that she deserted her husband as he used to assault her.

The woman relocated from her village to Navi Mumbai in 2018, asking her parents to look after her daughter. In Navi Mumbai, she got acquainted with the accused, a driver by profession, and started living with him on rent. However, she needed to bring her daughter to Navi Mumbai for her treatment in May 2019.

On June 1, 2019, her daughter told her she was having trouble urinating, and found her scared of her live-in partner. On taking the child into confidence, she found out about the sexual assault.

Public prosecutor Rupali Metkewar examined 10 witnesses, including the victim and the complainant. The court accepted the evidence and held the accused guilty based on the “consistent testimony of victim”, which was corroborated by medical evidence.